Check scams

Recently, I placed an ad for a guitar on Craigslist for $600. I received three or four offers immediately and received a check last week from a person claiming to be in the UK. He sent me a check for $1,500, said to deduct the cost of the guitar from it and the shipping and send him the rest back via Western Union.

The check seemed reasonable, but I had this suspicion that it wasn't. So I called the bank and got a busy signal. I have worked in several banks, and if one calls during the day, there never is a busy signal. So I took the check to my bank and they thought I should deposit it, which I did.

Constantly, I received e-mails from the purchaser wanting to know where his MONEY was, not the guitar, but his money. Well needless to say, it was bogus and I told him so.

Yesterday, I received another bogus check drawn on an account from a sports store in Oklahoma. I called the store and they have had over 10 instances where thieves had used their name, check numbers, etc., to defraud others like this.

I suggest that the thieves stop doing this because some of us know better and those of you who don't know better, please beware. The money you lose may be your own.

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Comments

I run a large site that has an active classifieds with lots of transactions, many international. I can't get over the fact that so many people believe one of the first acts of selling an item should include writing a big whopping check back to the buyer, or worse, sending them cash by Western Union. Think about it, please. When did THAT become acceptable to your thinking?And if you think these folks are going to stop because someone asked them to... Please. These scams continue because they work and people will continue to fall for them.

On a somewhat related note, I was reading an article online about what to do with a deceased spouce's bills and the article stressed that before the widow/er pays the bill to first makes sure that the bill is legitimate. Apparently, there are scammers who read the obits and then send very official looking "bills" to the decease's spouse hoping that the spouse will either be too ignorant or too distraught to question the "bill" and just go ahead and pay it.So, always check something out.Dena

Dave wrote: "....some of us know better." Correction Dave. This scam is older than my grandma's britches. MOST OF US know better, and wouldn't have even tried to deposit the check. Some of us are still aive, or like you, have been recently disabused of your naivete.

Another misconception too many people have is "available funds" vs. "cleared check". The Expedited Funds Availability Act (Reg. CC) requires banks make deposited checks available within a reasonable time. So, just because your deposit is available for withdrawal, that does not mean that the check has cleared. And if it is not a good check, don't blame your bank - the bank does not have a magical way to look up a check and know if it is good or not. After all, if you receive a check for no apparent reason, or if you receive a check where the sender is requesting you to send some of it back, it is a scam!

"..older than my grandma's britches"+++I believe that women wore "bloomers" named after Emelia Bloomer,their designer,which were summer wear back in that era.Bloomers were cotton pants with calf-high cuffs.Acceptable amount of skin in those days.When them girls come prancin out in their sleaveless bathing suits,naked up to the elbow,bloomers with hardly a skirt over them,black socks and tennis shoes.Very risque.carry on.

June 27, 2007To the editor:When we talk about the beauty of Douglas County, Lawrence and the surrounding area, we look at fine lawns and great amounts of vegetation. This is wonderfulto see in the spring, until the dandelions appear. They multiply by the thousands every spring, and the city does nothing to stop it.I spend more than $100 each year to put weed and feed on my lawn (as small as it is), but to no avail. I am losing a battle that can't be won alone. Weneed the city to get serious about killing the millions and millions of dandelion plants or we soon will be overrun with them and lose the beauty of thearea. A little bit of weed killer on them and they will be gone, but it must be everyone who does this or we all suffer with those ugly things.David Omar,http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2007/jun...[comment thread under this is great!An event from May '08 shows Omar works for Countrywide, another scam artist, which gave sweetheart loan deals to seven important democrats including chris Dodd who is head of the Senate committee investigating them!*** A review of earlier letters to the editor shows that Omar has written that Islam does not require people who quit Islam to be put to death. And, he repeats the usual antiwar, antibush drivvel. Apparently, he wants to bomb Dandelions, but doesn't want to bomb terrorists. He says that we shouldn't attack Iran and let them have nuclear weapons! So, we should all ban together to face the menace of Dandelion invasion, and face it remorselessly! But a country that has stated its intention to whipe Israel off the map, oh just let it ride. That because you know, we have such a bad history of our own. Read his lte history, it is very informative.